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Mayor's luxury 4x4 attached
17/05/2008 22:44 - (SA)
Dumisane Lubisi
Burgersfort - The mayor of the Tubatse municipality in Limpopo, Ralepane Mamekoa, was grounded for a day when a sheriff of the court attached his luxury mayoral 4x4.
The incident occurred at the municipal offices in full view of officials and members of the public in the small town of Burgersfort.
Community members watched in amazement as the car, a R437 000 VW Touareg, was driven away by court officials.
The court gave the order to attach the car following the municipality's failure to pay a former employee and two current officials' settlements reached in May last year.
Former director of human resources Simon Makofane and current managers Burton Koma and David Mogofe approached the court fearing the municipality was broke.
The three men and former technical services director Stephen Nkadimeng were suspended in 2006 for allegedly rigging a tender that favoured their companies.
Municipal spokesperson Jermina Kaka said the vehicle was
"attached illegally on the basis of an erroneous court order obtained by the three men". Needs car for meetings
"The trio misled the court in obtaining such an order because the law does not allow state assets to be attached," she said.
Municipal officials approached the Lydenburg Magistrate's Court shortly after the sheriff drove the car away. They argued that Mamekoa was a man of high standing, that he needed the car to attend meetings and that the municipality was an established institution which would not close shop.
A source, close to the municipality, said the incident was an indication of the financial strain the municipality was facing.
Municipal documents in City Press's possession show that the municipality had R6.3m in its bank account in April with only three months to go before the end of the financial year.
Monthly salaries for staff amount to R4.5m. It is not clear if the municipality will be able to pay its staff.
The source said the municipality had hoped that R26 million worth of loans, approved by the executive committee last month, would keep it afloat until the new financial year begins.
But the loans have not been paid yet because of outstanding information required by the banks. New vehicle replaced '06 Merc
Kaka said the loans were not for the "day-to-day operations" of the municipality, but for capital projects.
The cash-strapped municipality bought the mayoral vehicle, expensive Christmas gifts and even overpaid a security contractor between December and March.
The vehicle replaced a Mercedes-Benz that had been bought for Mamekoa in 2006.
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